It is well known to use a charger device to recharge the battery of a cable to connect a handheld communication device, such as a portable mobile device (e.g. a hand-held smart phone). In some cases, the charger device is provided as a simple cable assembly of the type illustrated in FIG. 1a. In this case, charger device 2 comprises a cable 6 terminated at one end with a standard plug connector 8 (such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) or mini-USB, for example) designed to engage a port 10 of the handheld communication device 4. An opposite end of the cable is terminated at a power source (not shown). In some cases, the power source may be a small transformer unit which may be plugged into a wall outlet to provide electrical power to the handheld communication device. In other cases, the power source may be a connector designed to engage a port of a computer, such as a desktop Personal Computer (PC), in which case the charger device 2 may be used to provide both electrical power and a data connection between the handheld communication device 4 and the PC.
FIG. 1b illustrates an alternative arrangement, in which the connector is integrated into a “docking station” 12 which, in addition to providing a connector for electrical power and optionally a data connection, also serves to support the handheld communication device 4 in a position that makes it possible to read a screen 14 of the handheld communication device 4.
The foregoing arrangements suffer limitations in that the use of the simple cable of FIG. 1a does not afford any means of supporting the hand-held device in a convenient orientation, whereas the docking station of FIG. 1b can support the hand-held device in a readable orientation, but its size is inconvenient and limits its portability.
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.